New Course: ‘How Airway Influences Skeletal Growth and Development’

Do you know how breathing affects a person's facial growth and development?

In a new Spear Online course, “How Airway Influences Skeletal Growth and Development,” Dr. Rebecca Bockow examines how soft tissue and breathing patterns influence skeletal growth.

The course highlights similar malocclusions in children and adults and how their treatment plans differ when it comes to the patient’s age and skeletal maturation.

WHITE PAPER: In Spear’s latest white paper, Dr. Rebecca Bockow explains why the transverse dimension is such a key issue for restorative dentists to consider in diagnosis and treatment planning.

“If we think about the common malocclusions we see in our practices, we see gummy smiles, overbites, crossbites, open bites, underbites and crowding,” said Dr. Bockow, a Spear Resident Faculty member and board-certified orthodontist and periodontist who practices in Seattle.

“What do these all have in common?” she said. “It’s actually tongue and breathing disfunctions that contribute to the common malocclusions we see in our patients.”

In “How Airway Influences Skeletal Growth and Development,” clinicians will learn comprehensive treatment plans focused on growth modification for adolescents and surgical and nonsurgical options for adults.

The new course will leave Spear Online members more confident in their ability to:

• Relate how breathing and tongue posture influence skeletal growth
• Discuss the transverse dimension and skeletal expansion
• Discuss different expansion protocols and how they differ for children and adults
• Explain treatment protocols and intervention strategies and how they differ for children and adults

“How Airway Influences Skeletal Growth and Development” includes six lessons:

• Common Malocclusions
• Role of the Tongue in Skeletal Growth & Development
• The Transverse Dimension
• Adult Expansion
• Timing Intervention
• Maxillary Deficiencies